


The First Cut Is The Easiest

by DarknessBehindTheBlue32



Category: Palaye Royale (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Serial Killers, Blood and Gore, Cutting, Dismemberment, Gen, Revenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:46:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23502583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarknessBehindTheBlue32/pseuds/DarknessBehindTheBlue32
Summary: Earl Farrow is a wanted man but when he tries to lure a certain young man to be his next victim, he soon realizes that the young man is a serial killer and his doom is sealed. Trigger warning.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	1. One

* * *

* * *

* * *

Earl Farrow was driving around the dark wet streets of New York in a nice Honda Accord. He was searching for a nearby bar to have a couple of shots of whiskey. He was having a bad night.

Hell, he's been having a bad couple of weeks.

He was wanted in three states. He had arrest warrants for armed robbery, credit card fraud, auto theft, kidnapping, and 2nd degree murder. Like any cold-minded entitled cynic, he believed his actions were reasonable.

The charge for armed robbery and credit fraud? He grew up poor and had no money coming to him or his poor mother living in the senior home. Shouldn’t they have nice things for once in their lives? He was sure the court wouldn’t understand this valid reason, especially if they read the police report about how he lives in a nice ranch style house and that his mother is being taken care of by his (ugh) law abiding younger brother. 

The auto theft charge? Another valid reason. Yes, he did have a great running Ford Ranger that was only 7 years old, but he was a man of the future and he needed a more fuel efficient car. He was just searching for the perfect vehicle. If he happen to see a car that might suit his needs, he would flag down the owner and try to reach a gentleman’s agreement to let him test drive it. However, the owners would tell the court that they were “robbed at gunpoint”. 

Despite these “good” reasons, Earl knew that there was no way he could talk himself out of being fried for the kidnapping and the murder charge. He was hoping that the jury would see that he was a God-fearing man and he felt that it was his duty to show the two young men who were “so deep in sin” that if they just came with him to a quiet peaceful place, he would lead them back to the straight and narrow so they wouldn’t be sent back to God unclean.

Of course, _everyone_ would see this as “a hate crime against homosexuals” and that he “kidnapped two young gay boys on the street, drove them to the woods, and shot them until they were dead.”

Earl shook his head at the fall of this once great nation. He also felt angry at himself for not trying harder to get the kid in the last town to go with him. The guy looked like he was gay, with his clothes and that dumb pirate hat. Earl almost had him in the car but the little bastard kicked him in the nuts and ran like hell. He could’ve gone after him but he knew the kid would get to a phone and call the cops. So here he is now.

He finally saw a bar around the corner and decided to park. But just as he was about to get out of the car, he saw a small crowd of people leaving the bar. One of the patrons stuck out in particular. He looked about twenty-five and he was wearing a black lace dress shirt, shiny black rubber pants, a ladies red coat with black flowers sewn around the collar, shiny black rubber Opera gloves, and black men’s shoes with red heels. His short dark brown hair was spiked up and it was clear that he was wearing makeup.

Earl laughed to himself. This guy is practically _begging_ to be made an example of. A walking target.

A plan quickly popped in his head. First, he needs to get his attention. He stuck his head out and called out to the kid, “Hey! What’s going on?”

“There was a small grease fire,” replied the kid. “The owner told us to evacuate.”

“So this place is closed then?”

"Yep. There’s another bar down the street that’s still open. I’m heading there now.”

 _Phase Two,_ Earl thought gleefully. “Well, you can hop in with me and we could drive there. No reason why you should there if I'll see you there anyway and who knows when it'll rain again.”

“Great,” said the kid and he reached into his jacket pocket. “Oh wait. Let me head back inside first. I left my phone in there.”

“Sure. I'll go in with you,” said Earl as he got out of the car. He left it unlocked. They’re only going in for a few minutes.

The two went inside and the scent of burnt crumbs filled the place. A man behind the bar saw the men, “Sorry guys. We’re closed this evening.”

"We know. I left my phone here at the bar,” the kid told him.

The man reached behind the bar and produced out a silver smartphone, “This is yours, then?”

The kid nodded, “Yep! Thank you!” Earl followed him out and the two got into the car.

Earl started the engine and turned to his new traveling companion, “Hey, listen…um…”

"Remington,” the kid replied.

“Remington, I have to ask you something,” Earl began. “Have you been saved?”

“Me?” Remington questioned. “Well, no. But then again, I already know I'm going straight to hell.”

“Now why is that?” Earl used his best sympathetic voice.

“Well, I drink. Have occasional flings. Kill people,” Remington chuckled

Earl's eyes widened, “What was that last part?”

Remington turned his head to Earl and smiled devilishly, “Kill people. You know, like take them at gunpoint and kill them. Here’s an example.”

Before Earl had the chance to speak, he was pulled back by his neck and had a gun pointed to the side of his head.

“Oh, the guy behind you is my older brother Sebastian,” said Remington. “He decided to join us.”

“You shouldn’t leave your car unlocked,” the man in the backseat whispered. “That’s just inviting trouble.”

“But then again,” Remington said. “You’re in enough trouble already, aren’t you Earl?”

Earl was now frightened, “Who the fuck are you? How do you know my name?”

Remington crossed his arms and smiled, “You’ll know soon enough. Right now, we need to go. Sebastian will give you the directions and please don’t make him angry. Oh, but don’t worry! We're not killing you…yet.”

“Drive,” Sebastian commanded and Earl began to pull the car out. Earl was now in deep and he feared that no police would be around to save him.


	2. Two

Earl had been driving the dark streets of New York for an hour. His eyes were focused on the road but he was sweating bullets. His passenger next to him looked out the window while the passenger behind him was giving him directions while keeping a gun to his head.

“Turn left after the second light then keep going straight,” Sebastian told him. Earl nodded and he reached the second light, he steered his wheel to the left. They drove silently for ten minutes until they pulled into a factory area. 

“When you see the green factory near the floor gate bridge, park there,” Sebastian said. Earl obeyed and stopped the car in front of the green factory building. The building looked dark and deserted. 

“Honk,” Remington finally spoke since the drive began.

“W-Wha?” Earl stuttered a little

“Honk the horn!” Sebastian hissed and gave Earl a nudge from his gun.

Earl swallowed loudly and pressed his hand on the horn. Once the sound was heard, the factory lights magically came on and then switched back off. 

Remington smiled, “He’s here and alone. Let’s go.” 

Remington got out of the car and Sebastian told Earl to get out. Earl slowly got out and once he was outside, he noticed how cold it was and fought the urge to shiver. Sebastian got out soon after and grabbed Earl's shoulder. The three men headed to the factory. 

\-----------------------

Earl was chained down to a conveyor belt and stripped of his clothes. Sebastian stood by him to keep guard. Remington disappeared for a few minutes after he told Sebastian to “take care of him”. 

For the first time since all this happened, Earl was scared. He didn’t know what these guys would do to him. He tried to talk to Sebastian, “H-Hey, look. I don’t care about what you guys do or why you kill people, but I won’t tell the police and leave town if you just let me go.”

“Sorry Earl,” said Sebastian. “We spent too many hours looking for you and Remington is very upset. I’m not going to disappoint him.” 

Just then, a door open and Remington entered the room. He went straight to Sebastian, “Is he ready?” 

Sebastian grinned and patted Earl's bare thigh, “Stripped and bond. Where’s Emerson?” 

“He’s just finished burning the midnight oil,” Remington replied

“Wait, there’s another guy?! Who’s Emerson?” Earl panicked. “Is he going to document this?!?” 

Remington rolled his eyes, “Of course not”.

“But you said that he just finished burning the midnight oil!”

“It’s not what you think,” Sebastian explained. “It’s much worse”. 

“It’s shameful that you don’t know who Emerson is,” Remington chides. “After all, you met him today.” 

Earl was scared and confused by this until he heard another voice from across the room, “It’s ready!” 

Remington smiled at the unseen person, “Good. Now come over and say hello”. 

When Earl saw the person looking over him, he knew right then what Remington meant when he said he met his brother today. 

It was the frilly dressed kid with the pirate hat. He had a small bottle in his hands. He glanced over at Earl, “Hello again”. 

Earl felt a cold sweat covering his body. 

“Sorry I decided not to take your rather _aggressive_ offer to get in your car,” Emerson apologized with a mock innocent voice. “But I felt terrible afterwards and asked my big brother Remington to look for you. And look! He found you! I’m so glad. And Sebastian decided to join us too. Well! Since now we’re all here, let’s begin.” 

“Begin what?!” Earl yelled. 

“Why, talking about going back on the right path,” Emerson explained. “That’s what you were going to talk to me about when you tried to get me into your car.” 

“And while we appreciate you trying to _“help”_ my little brother like you _“helped”_ those two poor boys,” Remington said “help” and “helped” with a venomous tone. “We decided that you’re the one that might need to be brought back to God.” 

Remington grabbed the bottle from Emerson’s hand and walked around the conveyor belt to Earl’s head, “Open up.” 

Earl shook his head, “No” 

Remington nodded over to Sebastian. Sebastian came over and used his strong hands to pry Earl's jaw open. Remington emptied the contents of the bottle into Earl’s mouth and Sebastian clamped his jaw shut to make him swallow it. It felt thick and warm going down his throat.

“What did you feed me?!” Earl frantically asked. 

“Midnight Oil,” Remington answered. “Otherwise known as opium syrup.” 

“YOU DRUGGED ME?!” Earl shouted but then thought about it for a moment. Opium? That’s not so bad. He'll be high as hell while they’re doing what they were planning to do. 

Sebastian must've seen the relieved look on Earl’s face and decided to burst his bubble, “It’ll help alleviate the pain.” 

Earl’s eyes bugged out. _Alleviate!_ This stuff would make the pain hurt worse?! Earl struggled to get out of his restraints but to no avail. 

The boys laughed at this until Remington spoke, “Now it’s time to save our friend. Does anyone have any suggestions?” 

“I think we should let Emerson decided,” said Sebastian. “After all, Earl is Emerson's guest”

“I want to 'the lingering death’ that I read about,” Emerson smiled. 

“Excellent choice!” Remington commended. “Sebastian, do you have my tool kit?” 

“Always,” Sebastian nodded. 

“Grab them for me, please?” Remington asked politely. 

Sebastian turned away and Earl heard him pick up something. He saw him hand Remington a black bag. Remington took a peek inside the bag and asked Emerson, “How long until the opium hits his system?” 

“About 30 minutes,” said Emerson

“Good. These need to be sharpened,” Remington closed the bag again. “Sebastian, you help me. Emerson, why don’t you and Earl get better acquainted?” 

“Can’t you leave me the sticking knife and the roast needle?” Emerson begged. 

Remington reached inside his bag and pulled out the said items. He handed them to Emerson, “Knock yourself out. We’re be a few minutes.”   
The two leave the room and Emerson looked over at his new companion with an evil grin. 

Earl began to scream. 


	3. Three

“The practice of 'the lingering death' began in China. It was known as Lingchi or 'The Death of A Thousand Cuts',” Emerson was walking around the conveyor belt, twirling around the roast needle with his fingers. “It was used for torture and execution for crimes like treason, patricide, matricide, and mass murder. Mass murder. Huh. Sounds kinda like you, doesn’t it?”

He turned his head to Earl, who had a piece of cloth stuffed in his mouth. He was screaming a few minutes ago and Emerson decided to shut him up. 

Emerson continued, “Of course, you probably think that killing two gay boys wouldn’t be considered to be mass murder. But hate crimes are considerably high these days. Funny how you thought I was gay. If you allowed me the chance to explain that to you, would you still want to kill me? Would you have let me go if you knew I was straight? Probably not. Maybe you thought since you can’t kill me because I’m straight, you'd kill me because I support gay rights. Or maybe because I’m a witness of your whereabouts. Isn’t that right, Earl?” 

Earl frantically shook his head and muffled through the cloth. Emerson shrugged and walked around until he was by his head, “You don’t have to answer me. Frankly, I don’t care what you say. Let’s continue with the lesson, shall we? The practice ended in 1905 but there was reported use of it in Vietnam. How this works is that the victim would be tied down and fed opium to alleviate the pain. Then in the process of 3 days, pieces of the victim are cut off. The first place they start at is the worst for some people but I think it’s poetic”. 

Emerson loomed over Earl, the roasting needle firm in hand. The metal needle shone in the light. Earl's forehead was beaded with sweat. His eyes bulged in fear. His exposed body convulsing with fear but unable to move due to the opium. 

“You were blessed with eyes but you blinded them with hate and malice,” Emerson whispered softly. “To quote the Bible, 'If the eye offends thee, pluck it out'. That’s the first to go.” 

With a swift stab downward, Emerson punctured the needle through Earl’s right eye. Earl's bloodcurdling scream was muffled. The pain shooting through his body was indescribable! It was like he was stabbed with a million needles and then thrown into a meat grinder. Blood started to lose out of the eye and Emerson yanked out the needle, along with the eyeball with a distinct 'pop' sound. More blood pulsed out of the now empty eye socket. 

Earl continued to scream into his bag and tears were coming out of the only eye he had left. Which wasn’t for long as Emerson repeated the same action to the other eye. The pain intensified and Emerson tore off the cloth from Earl's mouth.

Earl’s screams howled and echoed throughout the empty factory, “YOU FUCKIN’ LUNATIC! LOOK WHAT YOU DONE TO ME!”

Emerson scoffed, “I only took your eyes out. Would you rather watch yourself get cut to pieces? Personally, I would’ve kept your eyes to have you watch. I'd just cut out your eyelids to keep them open. But I’m a traditionalist.”

Since Earl couldn’t see, he only heard what Emerson was doing next. He heard him set something down on the conveyor belt, “What’s that?! What are doing now?! Answer me!”

“Your nose is filthy,” Emerson tsked. “We need to shave off the dead skin. Especially since it’s shiny with gristle. Now hold still” 

Emerson grabbed the skinning knife and began to slice off the greasy nose skin inch by inch. Earl howled in pain and gritted his teeth. When he completely skinned Earl's nose, Remington and Sebastian came back. 

“Having fun, boys?” Remington casually asked.

Emerson glanced over to his older brother with a grin, “Very much. Can we play some more?” 

Remington looked over at Sebastian, “Do we need more opium?” 

Sebastian nodded, “Yeah, I'll have to visit Daniel tomorrow to get it. After all, it'll be my turn to play with Earl.” 

Earl shook in fear. Next was the oldest brother?! His mind pleaded to the unseen God, _Lord, either get me out of here or kill me. Get me out of_ _here_ or _kill me._

Remington turned to Emerson, “You get to chop off two more things and then we go home.” 

Emerson clapped his hands excitingly, “Yay! May I have the chop knife?” 

Remington reached into his bag and handed the knife to him. Emerson took it and then sliced out Earl's toes and fingers. One by one. Slowly. Earl let out screams again until Sebastian stuffed the cloth back in his mouth again.

Once Emerson was done, he and Sebastian left the area and Remington leaned over to Earl’s ear. “Get plenty of rest, Earl. You'll need your strength to play with Sebastian tomorrow.” 

Remington rose up and jogged after his brothers. Then the only sound Earl could hear was the door being shut and locked. Then he only hear the distant mechanical sounds from the other factories and felt the icy breezes of impending death all night. 

Somehow, Earl managed to sleep a little until he heard the door opening again and two sets of footsteps. The footsteps stopped beside Earl. 

“Good morning!” Emerson’s voice chirped from above. 

“Good news,” Sebastian began. “Daniel actually came to me this morning. He needed some tools from Remington’s kit and we happily loaned it to him for a brick of opium. So now we have plenty of Midnight Oil to play.” 

Earl blubbered into the cloth. How could this happen to him? Who are these psychopaths? Why hasn’t anyone come to the factory? He saw that they were in an industrial area last night. Surely some worker should've noticed them by now. 

“However, Remington couldn’t come today,” Sebastian said in a mock depressed voice. “He has work downtown today. But he said Emerson could come over. Isn’t that nice?” 

Earl tried to struggle out of the ropes again. Emerson laughed, “Somebody’s ready.” 

“Well then,” said Sebastian as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the freshly made bottle of opium syrup. “Let the games begin.” 

Throughout the day, Sebastian and Emerson took turns using a lamb cleaver and sliced off skin and pieces from Earl’s shoulders and thighs. Earl jolted violently to each cut and he screamed over and over into the cloth gag. Sebastian took it out every two hours to feed him more opium syrup. The pain kept getting worse and worse with each cut from his flesh. He was positive that he would die right then and there. No such luck.

They had a variety of games, such as 'Tic Tac Flesh', 'Synchronized Drop Chops', and a family favorite 'Which Chop Will Make Earl Scream The Loudest'. Earl didn’t like any of the games. ESPECIALLY the last game.

Just as evening rolled around, Sebastian got a call from Remington. After a few minutes of talking, Sebastian hanged up and told Emerson that it was time to go home. Sebastian patted Earl's head, “Goodnight, Earl. Sweet dreams.” He heard Sebastian say to Emerson, “God, he's turning into a bloody mess.”

“Don’t worry,” Emerson reassured him. “Remington will play with Earl tomorrow and then it'll be the end of it.” 

Earl twitched with pain but he was listening. Only one more day? Right. One more day and then they kill him. 

He nodded weakly and listened as the boys gathered their things and left the factory, leaving him alone once more. Within three hours, Earl was asleep.   
\---------  
Earl was having blank dreams and was shaken awake. “Wakey wakey, Earl!” Remington’s voice said above him. “It’s playtime! Come on, let's get you up!” 

Earl heard some cutting sounds from his hands and feet. Once they stopped, he felt Remington helping him sit up. He was freed from the conveyor belt. 

“Now don’t try to fight me here, Earl,” warned Remington. “You don’t have much of a leg to stand on.” 

_Little bastard,_ Earl thought angrily. But it was true. He didn’t have any fingers to give him a hard punch. He couldn’t run without his toes and even he did manage to run, where the hell would he go? He had no eyes. 

Remington dragged him across the room and sat him down into a desk chair. He tied Earl up again. Earl heard him walk around him and then stopping right in front of him. Earl caught a whiff of something. It was familiar scent but he couldn’t name it. He did know it was a dangerous scent.

“Let’s talk about the senses, huh?” Remington suggested. “We have five senses. Sight. Taste. Touch. Sound. Scent. Right now, you only have four senses. Sight's no longer a factor here. Let’s talk about the senses you got left. Your nose. You can smell anything through your nose. You've probably been smelling your own blood, huh? The wafting oder of blood splattering out of your putrid flesh. You’re probably getting sick of it.”

Earl felt two fingers pinch the bridge of his skinless nose and started to saw off Earl's nose with a sticking knife. He screamed, howled, and roared in pain while Remington was doing this. What made this worse was that even without being fed the opium syrup, the pain was too much to bear. 

“So now you’re down to three senses,” Remington told him. “Let’s go to 'touch'. By the looks of it, you don’t have much anymore. No fingers. No toes. Your skin is practically falling off. All that’s left is the one thing that can still feel. But considering your *ahem* current situation, I really see now need for it now.” 

Oh God, he's gonna cut off my lips Earl mentally screamed and Remington began the next severe cut. Only it wasn’t his lips. 

Remington castrated him with a chop knife. Earl screamed up to five octets when that happened.

“Now two senses!” Remington cheered and Earl heard a bloody splat from the ground. “Now, Earl. I've noticed that you have been screaming a lot but had said nothing. So that must mean that you have no need for speech, doesn’t it?” 

Earl didn’t need a psychic to know that he was going to cut out his tongue, “N-No! L-Listen! I've been thinking.” 

“If you’re going to do the whole 'I know I did terrible things and deserve to die but I think it would be better if you handed me to the police and let them put me to death' mercy speech,” said Remington. “You’re a lot more stupider than I thought. I hand you to the police and you'll flap your gums about who did this to you and make a deal with the court to give you immunity or a lighter sentence. But here’s the funny thing…wait, before I tell you that.” 

Earl opened his mouth to speak and before Earl could let out one single word, Remington quickly reached into his mouth and grabbed his tongue. He cut it off and threw it to the side, “Can’t have you interrupt me.” 

He shoved Earl's head down so the blood drips to the ground, “Can’t have you drown in your own blood until you hear my speech.” 

Earl coughed and gagged out blood while Remington whispered in his ear, “The funny thing is you tried to kill my little brother and you’re trying to beg for mercy. You’re in the same position that those boys were the second before you killed them. Did they begged for mercy? Did you hear their pleas? Of course not. All you heard was the evil in your brain. They were innocent kids. You didn’t care. You wanted them dead. Well, I’m playing you. _And_ _I_ _want you dead.”_

Earl shook in pain and fear. Blood oozed and flowed from his mutilated body. Remington smirked and whispered “Consider this our last conversation.” 

With that, Remington finally cut the sense Earl had. His ears. 

Remington packed up his bloody tools and stole one last look at Earl. He slightly grimaced at the sight and walked away, leaving Earl to bleed and die.   
\------------  
Earl sat with his head down. His life's blood draining from him. He lost everything. With the blood of two boys, Earl Farrows was found by the devil and his pack of demons. He was judged and sentenced to Hell. Why he felt the fiery heat of the eternal flames before he finally groaned and died.  
The factory was up in smoke and someone from the chemical factory called the fire department. The fire went on for four hours until it was finally out. The firefighters looked inside the destroyed building and one found a body on the ground. Burned to the crisp. Burned beyond recognition. A bottle was found near the body. It was slightly burned off, but the label read ETHER.   
“Probably a homeless tramp. Put him in the morgue under John Doe and cause of death was substance abuse and severe burns,” said one firefighter to another.

“And the fire?” 

“He must've hit an old machine during his intoxication and dropped his bottle there. The damned thing short-circuited and ignited. Pure and simple. This place has been abandoned for years. It was gonna be gone sooner or later.”

\----------------

Far away from the industrial area, a lone black car was parked by the street and three men stared at the smoke coming from the area.

“You worked fast, Sebastian,” Remington told him

“Well, Emerson helped,” Sebastian shrugged. “You bought a fuckload of kerosene last night. Thankfully, we used it all last night after Earl fell asleep. Didn’t hear a thing.”

“Which was why I had you guys cut Earl until nightfall. He would be exhausted and weak to notice anything.”

Emerson turned to Remington, “Now what?” 

“We’re going to drive into the city and we're going to look for payphones. In different areas. Sebastian, you call the families and tell them the job is done. Emerson, you call the state police and tell them that you saw a man that looked like Earl Farrows walking to the industrial area two nights ago,” instructed Remington. “Tell them to come quick. Give the name Austin Anderson if they ask for a name. After that, we get the fuck out of here. Got it?”

There were sounds of agreement and Remington started the engine. The car backed into the road and drove away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's it! I hope you've enjoyed it!

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Palaye Royale fanfic story. Hope it's not too disappointing for you


End file.
